Is Jack Reacher, mountain of a man that he is, the kind of guy who can stroll into any old thrift store and find a pair of jeans that fit, let alone a jacket big enough for those arms? Probably not. But that’s the sly joke of “Reacher,” which is back for a second season on Amazon.
Adapted from the book series by Lee Child (he’s written 28 in all), Reacher is an exaggerated cliché of masculinity, letting his muscles do most of the talking (that square jaw is best used for taking punches) and resisting anything so “soft” as putting down roots or (shudders) domestication.
If there’s a reason to suspend your disbelief and just go with it, that would be Alan Ritchson’s performance, which allows for flickers of humor and a subtle grin occasionally playing around his lips. Ritchson takes the role seriously, but he’s in on the joke, and it’s a great tonal balance.
Which is why he can deliver ridiculous lines without losing the audience. “A hundred thousand years ago, there were people who stayed by the campfire and people who wandered. I’m pretty sure I’m a direct descendant of the wandering type. It’s just who I am.” He will not be contained by a mortgage! And he prefers to not get involved in other people’s problems, unless they’re in danger — which means he always gets involved. His size and moral compass demand it.
Season 2 is based on the novel “Bad Luck and Trouble.” In an earlier life, Reacher headed up a military police unit of special investigators. He’s ex-Army now, but one of his former subordinates has turned up dead. Then a few more go missing. Reacher and what’s left of his old team reunite to find out what’s going on. As a group, they’re as indistinct as the cast of a CBS procedural. But the quips and violence push the story forward, bit by bit, in mostly entertaining (if somewhat generic) ways.
The cops are not happy about these off-the-books methods. No more cowboy stuff, says a police detective played by Domenick Lombardozzi, channeling some of the same intense energy he brought to Herc on “The Wire.”
After he leaves, someone turns to Reacher: What now, boss?
Saddle up, he tells them. We’re about to do a whole lot of cowboy stuff.
It’s the fist-pumping equivalent of Bruce Willis yelling “yippee-ki-yay” in “Die Hard,” and I defy anyone to be immune to the outsized pleasures of this kind of thing.
The series is well-made and makes no bones about the kinds of stories it wants to tell. This season is unabashed in its proliferation of guns. In fact, “We’re gonna need more guns,” Reacher says at one point. When one of his friends starts to waver, he tells them: “It won’t be forever, we just need to kill a few more people.” (There’s a lot of breaking into homes and shouting “clear!” as they confirm nobody’s home. This is “Reacher” at its most monotonous.)
It’s not just the guns, but how the show wants you to feel about things like mandating waiting periods for gun purchases. Reacher treats this as a minor inconvenience. A silly one, even, because he is good and why do these laws keep guns out of the hands of guys like him, anyway? That kind of framing always gives me pause.
But I also admire his straightforward outlook on life. “People live and then they die. As long as we do both properly there’s nothing much to regret.”
Showrunner Nick Santora has a real flair for the character and finds a canny balance between quieter moments and all-out carnage. Robert Patrick is the antagonist this season, but the show doesn’t rely on household names to draw you in, and that feels like a higher level of difficulty than a lot of what’s coming out of Hollywood. The show has to work on its own merits, and that comes down to the writing, which tweaks the Reacher persona in some delightful ways.
He’s the antithesis of conspicuous consumption, a minimalist who carries nothing with him but the clothes on his back. So when he has to switch things up and put on a suit (another joke, because this man is not buying suits off the rack!) his jeans and T-shirt go in the garbage, because even carrying them in a bag would be weighing him down too much. “If I had any more clothes I’d need a suitcase. If I got a suitcase, I need a house to keep it in. Then I’d need a car for the driveway.” He shakes his head. “Before you know it, I’m filling out all kinds of forms.”
The annoyances of paperwork might be Reacher’s one Achilles’ heel. Good thing he has the wiles and physical heft to make that a moot point.
“Reacher” Season 2 — 3 stars (out of 4)
Where to watch: Amazon
Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.
nmetz@chicagotribune.com
